c a n a d a ’ s f i r s t m i n i n g publication CANADIANCANADIAN MMwww.canadianminingjournal.cominingining JJournalournalAugust 2011 INSIDEJOB An in-depth look at building the Copper Mountain Mine Plus CANADA’S TOP 40 COMPANIES are performing well

CANADIANCANADIANMining Journal Departments CONTENTS 5 Editorial Calling miners “sissies” (as one ‘consul- COVER STORY 13 tant’ did) because of peer pressure to act “macho” when it comes to safety is Canada’s TOP 40 not only ludicrous according to Editor Russ Noble but it’s also something that 13 mining companies wouldn’te b tolerated in Canada’s mines thankso t self-governing of the rules by CMJ’s annual “TOP 40” survey other miners. takes a look at Canada’s best mining companies and what areas of mining 6 Mining Matters are most profitable. Canadian Mining Journal’s popular “Mining Matters” pages take a quick lookt a some of the names and events BC Copper Mine 18 that are making headlines across 18 Copper Mountain Mining’s Canada and around the world. new project starts producing in 8 Competitive Edge record time. CMJ’s Foreign Correspondent Jaquelina Jimena talks about “The new CSR frontier” and how importantt i is to introduce the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility CANADIANS WORKING OUTSIDE CANADA into the universities of the world. In Alaska 22 10 In My Mine(d) 22 Fire River Gold revives Nixon This month’s Guest Column has been writteny b Yusra Siddiquee, a Partner Fork gold project in remote site. at Norton Rose OR LLP, and entitled “Key Changes to Canada’s Foreign Work Program.” In Mexico 26 34 Products 26 Minfinders Corp. restores A t look a some of the products and services now available to the interest in historic Dolores Canadian mining industry. gold/silver mine.

38 Exploration Opportunities A regular column by the firm of In Nevada 30 PricewaterhouseCoopers looks at 30 Silver Predator continues to Columbia’s mining industry and how its i growing, but not without invest in desert silver mine. growing pains.

c a n a d a ’ s f i r s t m i n i n g publication CANADIAN ABOUT THE COVER Miningwww.canadianminingjournal.com JournalAugust 2011 Copper Mountain Mining’s INSIDE project in Southern British JOB Columbia has gone from a An in-depth look at building the dream into production in a Copper Mountain Mine For More Information Plus short period of time thanks CANADA’S to f teams o workers that Please visit www.canadianminingjournal.com for regular updates on what's happening with TOP 40 COMPANIES have done some heavy Canadian mining companies and their personnel both here and abroad. A digital version of are performing well Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40069240 sluggingo t get the the magazine is also available at www.digital.canadianminingjournal.com plant operational. Next Month www.canadianminingjournal.com Quebec and Atlantic Canada

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 3 T133 Conversion Kit® for Caterpillar® 793F, 797F Mining Trucks BEYOND SIMULATION DELIVERING MEASURABLE REAL WORLD RESULTS

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[email protected] | Tel. +1 801 748 0844 www.ImmersiveTechnologies.com Editorial CANADIANMining Journal August 2011 Vol. 132 — No. 6 12 Concorde Place, Toronto, ON. M3C 4J2 Mine Safety Tel. (416) 442-5600 Fax (416) 510-5138 www.canadianminingjournal.com Editor is for “sissies” Russell. B Noble 416 510-6742 [email protected] Field Editor By Russell Noble Marilyn Scales 613 832-9087 [email protected] Foreign Correspondent ine s safety i a topic I could talk about plain wrong. They believe it’s a threat to Jaquelina Jimena in almost every issue of the maga- the f future o mankind, but as the logical [email protected] zine. It’s something that I’m familiar restf o us know, that’s ludicrous and Northern Correspondent Western Correspondent M Bill Braden Tanya Laing Gahr with because unlike most people, I’ve actu- almosts a crazy as the headline at the top [email protected] [email protected] ally n been i mines and know first hand how of this column. Art Direction potentially dangerous they can be. As I just mentioned, there are a num- Mark Ryan Note that I said “can be” instead of say- berf o groups or individuals out there Production Manager Print Production Manager ing “are” because any place that involves devotedo t slamming anything associated Steve Hofmann Phyllis Wright Circulation Manager machines and massive amounts of rock with mining and one of those I came Cindi Holder and dirt can be danger- across recently is a ‘con- 416 442-5600, ext. 3544 [email protected] ous but quite honestly, sultant’ from Australia Publisher I’d e rather b a thousand who says that mines Robert Seagraves feet down a shaft or woulde b safer places if 416 510-6891 [email protected] hundredsf o feet into an men weren’t being pres- Sales open pit than on most suredo t show their mas- Western Canada, Western of today’s highways. culinity and become U.S.A. & Australia But regardless of the “macho risk takers.” ® Ron Sanderson T133 Conversion Kit for Specialized Media Associates potentials for danger in “Peer pressure (on Caterpillar® 793F, 797F Mining Trucks 403 293-4138 [email protected] mines, the truth of the ment a mines sites) Group Publisher matters i that they are ensures safety is only for Doug Donnelly still f some o the safer sissies,” says the consul- President Vice-president work environments on tant. “For most of them,

Bruce Creighton Alex Papanou or more precisely, it’s o vital t portray them- Established 1882 under, earth. selvess a being strong, BEYOND SIMULATION Canadian Mining Journal provides articles and information of practical use to those who work in the technical, administrative and supervisory aspects of I know there have tough guys. This is a exploration, mining and processing in the Canadian mineral exploration and mining industry. Canadian Mining Journal ISSN 1923 - 3418 (Online) ISSN been recent headlines safety issue since they DELIVERING MEASURABLE REAL WORLD RESULTS 0008 - 4492 (Print) is published 10 times a year by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd. BIG is located at 12 Concorde Place, Suite talking about mishaps can never show any vul- 800, Toronto, ON, M3C 4J2. Phone (416) 442-5600. where lives have been nerabilityr o weakness.” Legal deposit: National Library, Ottawa. Printed in Canada. All rights reserved. lostr o equipment fail- I don’t know where Roadmap to Results Exclusively recommended by leading OEMs The contents of this magazine are protected by copyright and may be used only for your personal non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and ures have resulted in the consultant did his Immersive Technologies supports its world leading Advanced Immersive Technologies has formal commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material you must first obtain the permission of the owner of the copyright. For further information shut downs but again, research but every miner Equipment Simulators with a best practice approach to Exclusive Alliance Agreements please contact Russell Noble at 416-510-6742. Subscriptions — Canada: $47.95 per year; $76.95 for two years. USA: US$60.95 by comparison to the I’ve ever met takes safety implementation, measurement and analysis, specifically designed with leading Original Equipment per year. Foreign: US$72.95 per year. Single copies: Canada $10; USA and foreign: US$10. Canadian subscribers must add GST and Provincial tax where numberf o injuries that Tough and properly equipped but as seriously as they do for the mining and earthmoving industries. This structured Manufacturers (OEMs) including necessary.GST registration # 809744071RT001. occur daily in more hardly someone you’d call a “sissy.” the numbers on their From o time t time we make our subscription list available to select companies implementation framework provides mines with the support and Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Liebherr and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not conventional walks-of- paycheques and the men wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one roadmap necessary for optimizing their operational workforce. and P&H MinePro. of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374; Fax: 416-442-2191; E-mail: life, s mining i still safer. and women I know who privacy [email protected]; Mail to: Privacy Officer, Business Information Group, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, And the reason is clear. The majority of workn i mines are not stupid enough to Our expertise has been steadily built from over 10 continuous years These alliances exclusively provide Toronto, ON, M3C 4J2. Publications Mail Agreement #40069240. mining companies (here in Canada at risk the latter just to be “macho.” of leadership and dedicated focus in the mining industry, together Immersive Technologies with access to the proprietary machine Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement PM40069240. Please forward Forms 29B and 67B to 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2. least) simply don’t fool around when it nI fact, many of the miners I’ve met with successful business improvement projects at leading mines technical information necessary to correctly simulate the operation We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. comeso t safety. Admittedly every once in are n slight i stature but tough as nails and around the world. of the OEMs real equipment, ensuring you receive the most a while something goes wrong but there so are many of the men. accurate training simulator. again, something occasionally goes wrong In any event, the ‘teams’ that work in with almost everything. our mines are truly self-governing, espe- Certain groups and individuals, how- cially when it comes to safety, because [email protected] | Tel. +1 801 748 0844 ever, would have the public think that one ‘jerk-move’ by anyone can spell disas- www.ImmersiveTechnologies.com thingso g wrong with mining all the time ter for everyone. and they seem bent on convincing almost That’s the reason “sissies” don’t work

Canadian Business Press Indexed by Canadian Business Periodicals Index anyone who will listen that mining is just in mines. CMJ

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 5 Magazine appoints Mining Eastern Correspondent Volume 133 Matters August 2011

Mine rescue team performs well too along with 10 other teams from The Diavik mine rescue team will compete western Canada and the northwest in the 10th Biennial National Regional United States. Mine Rescue Competition in Fernie, BC, thanks to its sec- ond-place finish in the recent Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission’s competition in Yellowknife. D’Arcy Jenish Teams competing in Editor Russ Noble is pleased to announce Yellowknife also included the appointment of D’Arcy Jenish s a Ekati, Snap Lake mines Canadian Mining Journal’s Eastern from Northwest Territories, Correspondent. D’Arcy, a former Senior the Meadowbank Mine Writert a Maclean’s magazine, is the from Nunavut Territory, authorf o seven books and a technical and Minto Mine from writer with a special interest in mining. Yukon Territory. He e will b responsible for reporting pri- The rescue team from marilyn o mining and its people in Ekati, winners of the The Diavik team included Captain Kelsey Loessi, Vice-captain Quebec and Atlantic Canada. D’Arcy can Yellowknife competition, Kiok Perley, Cody Gagne, Andrew Furlong, James Venera, Yuri be t reached a [email protected] Kinakin, Gabino Preciado, and coach Alex Clinton. will naturally be in Fernie Students provide great resource Whent i comes to hiring students for to t look a mining as a career. the organization’s leaders and drawing part-time employment, the Canadian One program that is attracting both from AIESEC’s base of more than 50,000 mining industry is almost second to students and potential mining employ- student members in over 107 countries, none. With a shortfall of 100,000 work- ers s alike i AIESEC, the world’s largest, the company recently sent 20 Canadians ers predicted within the next decade, the non-profit, international organization to o Brazil t work with the company for a mining industry is concerned about designedo t explore and develop leader- periodf2 o 1 to 18 months. these prospects and through a number ship potential in students. For more information on what stu- of programs, it has taken an aggressive Vale, for example, is a partner in the dent resources AIESEC has to offer, positionf o helping encourage students program and through its interaction with contact www.aiesec.ca

6 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com Meeting strict water codes BioteQ Environmental Technologies of Vancouver has just completed its seventh season of water treatment operationst a Xstrata Nickel’s Raglan site in the Nunavik Regionf o northern Quebec. The ChemSulphide plant treats surface water by applying ISO 14001 standards for environmental compliance to meet very strict water quality requirements to produce clean water for o release t the environment. It’s anticipated that BioteQ’s plant will treat approxi- mately 1 million cubic meters of water at the Raglan site during the 2011 operating season, depending on the availaibility of water after the snow melt. Hauling concentrate Copper Mountain Mining Corp is pleased to announce that the first filtered copper concentrate was recently produced and deposited in the company’s concentrate shed at its new Copper Mountain Mine in southern BC. (See story on Page 18). New 50-tonne super B train-truck units will deliver the concentrate to port where facilities (including a truck tipper) have been built to handle the truck discharging and storage.

More than 1 million cubic meters of water are expected to be treated this year at Xstrata Nickel’s Raglan plant.

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August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 7 Competitive Edge Universities: The New CSR Frontier

Jaquelina Jimena is Canadian Mining Journal’s Foreign Correspondent. She is a journalist based in South America who specializes in worldwide economic issues and is also an advisor in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Mendoza, Argentina. She can be reached at By Jaquelina Jimena [email protected]

“We have the best CSR practices in the sec- that n one i three employers struggle to fill their competitive advantage. First, univer- tor. More than 2,400 small and medium- key jobs. This is happening in Japan (80%), sities should promote a true culture of sized suppliers have been invited to par- India (67%), Brazil (57%), Australia (54%) CSR throughout their organizations. ticipate in our “Value Program”, which and Taiwan (54%). Problems related to hir- Second, they should develop social mar- aims to promote socially responsible prac- ing the right candidates are common in keting actions in order to better commu- tices so as to improve their productivity in Canadas a well. The survey showed 21% in nicate and interact with stakeholders. The a sustainable manner. In addition, our cor- 2010, and, problems connected with hiring development of a vibrant CSR culture will porate tower was recertified by an the right people rose 8 points, in other foster the build-up of human and social Environmental Management System. words, 29% for this year. capital with the organization. Thanks to our team, we have created the The fact that companies cited lack of An important group of university Environmental Conservation Fund, which skills and experience as a reason for the stakeholders are corporate supporters of a offers financial support to 6 research proj- shortagef o talent should be a wake-up university. These businesses that provide ects in biodiversity.” call for the education system. The tradi- financial and strategic support to a uni- When the manager finished his lec- ture, I asked him a simple question: “All right, but what about universities? I would The fact that companies cited lack of skills and experi- likeo t know in what areas you are work- ing with this stakeholder”. He did not offer ence as a reason for a shortage of talent should be a any reasonable answer to me. At the end, wake-up call for the education system. The tradition of he said that his organization is analyzing “ howo t build a sustainable relationship universities over the past generations has been to be with some academics. reactive rather than proactive Certainly, CSR is still a nebulous con- cepto t many people out there in the mining and exploration industry, and it tionf o universities over the past few gen- versity are increasingly acclimatized to needs more press. erations has been to be reactive rather working with CSR concerns. They will Even more, according to a Canadian than proactive. ”benefit from an alignment of a university geologist student, CSR is not even men- The growing importance of CSR in the strategy that reflects their own concerns. tionedo t his classmates, even when they business world is clear. But is CSR impor- Universities have an opportunity to enter the industry, and years later they may tanto t educational institutions? How embrace the concerns of their stakehold- be making many important CSR decisions shouldn a institution such as a university ers, s such a students and business support- as project managers and even CEO’s. practice CSR? By a response from universi- ers, o and t lead in responding in the realm Certainly, the lack of specific training is ties,o I d not mean CSR research by faculty of practising and communicating CSR. clear around the world, and companies members, but rather the way in which a Universities realize that it is a competitive have had trouble in order to reach right university addresses the concerns of myriad marketn i terms of creating an ongoing candidatest a least it was evident in the last stakeholders with respect to CSR. streamf o satisfied alumni, attracting new Manpower survey, in July. After interview- Universities can choose to be follow- students and addressing the concerns of ing more than 39,000 employers across 39 ers,r o they can seize the opportunity to be business supporters—a strategy which countries and territories, the study revealed leaders and adopt CSR a vital aspect of incorporates CSR is a start.

8 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com FROM CONCEPT... TO COMPLETION

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Key changes to Canada’s Foreign Worker Program

Yusra Siddiquee is a Partner at Norton Rose OR LLP.

By Yusra Siddiquee

his article will provide an overview of (“CIC”) would breach the regulatory stan- Furthermore, that foreign worker is ineligi- the key changes to the Temporary dard. f I CIC becomes aware of this breach, ble for a Canadian work permit for four TForeign Worker Program, which then that foreign worker’s application for a years. The rule takes effect commencing became effective April 1, 2011. The future work permit extension could be April, 1 2011, thus the earliest date that a Temporary Foreign Worker Program has refused. Furthermore, that employer’s foreign national could reach the four-year beenn a important source of labour supply to application for work permits for all foreign cumulative cap is April 1, 2015. The accu- Canadian companies to meet their human workers could be refused for two years – at mulated time worked in Canada will be resources needs. In fact, in a typical year, all its offices across Canada. calculated based on the duration period of Canada admits more than 100,000 tempo- valid work permits issued to the foreign rary foreign workers on work permits. Breach of Compliance, worker.f I he/she has had gaps in employ- Therefore, these changes will have a signifi- The Consequences ment during the validity period of a work cant impact to the human resources plan- The most significant change to the permit, then he/she must provide proof ning and strategies employed in businesses. Temporary Foreign Worker Program to (suchs a passport entry and exit stamps, employerss i the imposition of a two-year tickets and boarding passes) for those New Compliance Criteria prohibition from hiring temporary foreign breaksoe t b considered in the calculation of The regulations establish stricter guidelines workers for employers who have been found cumulative duration. by n which a offer of employment will be evaluated. Stemming from this, on every If the foreign worker does not have permanent resident new application an officer will be able to status by the end of that four year period, or approval in prin- evaluate whether the terms of employment offeredo t every foreign worker in the two ciple / selection decision for permanent residence, years preceding an application have been “then the foreign worker must leave Canada. met with respect to working conditions, wage and occupation. Furthermore, any toen b i breach of the regulatory standard. There are exceptions to the four-year cap changeso t working conditions (such as Furthermore, these employers will be put on on work permits. In particular, the cap does location and hours), wage (salary increase a f public list o ineligible employers published not o apply t work permits issued pursuant or decrease) and occupation (promotion or on CIC’s external website. to the following categories: international lateral transfer) must be reported after the agreements such” as the NAFTA, intra- work permit is issued. Impact of Changes, company transfer, significant benefit to The Foreign Worker Canada, spousal work permits, Labour Breach of Compliance, An Example The changes to the Temporary Foreign Market Opinion exemptions, and Labour The following example will illustrate the Worker Program also impact the foreign Market Opinions for occupations coded as impactf o the changes. If an employer worker. For the first time a cumulative managerial (NOC O) and highly skilled brings a temporary foreign worker to maximum total of four years is being (NOC A). However, the majority of foreign Canadao t work at its Toronto office, and imposed for the issuance of work permits. workers will be impacted. the work permit indicates the location as If the foreign worker does not have perma- It therefore becomes especially important Toronto, a subsequent transfer of the nent resident status by the end of that four for companies to have a solid plan for transi- employeeo t its office in Vancouver without year period, or approval in principle / selec- tioning foreign workers to permanent resi- first obtaining a work permit amendment tion decision for permanent residence, then dent f status i in fact the decision has been from Citizenship & Immigration Canada the foreign worker must leave Canada. madeo t employ them indefinitely. CMJ

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By Marilyn Scales Strong commodity prices give mine revenues a boost

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 13 | Top 40

HERE’S A LOOK AT CANADA’S BEST he numbers have been couple billion dollars behind Teck is the crunched, the results tabu- oil sands revenue of Suncor Energy lated, and CMJ is proud to ($7.03 billion). Rounding out the top announce this year’s top five s spots i Potash Corporation of Canadian mining compa- Saskatchewan ($6.73 billion). Tnys i the world’s biggest gold producer, The second five of the top 10 are Barrick Gold. Thanks in part to the Goldcorp ($3.91 billion), Canadian Oil historic high price of gold, the com- Sands (including the Syncrude oil sands pany had gross revenues of $11.25 operations, $3.46 billion), Kinross Gold billionn i 2010. Watch for Barrick to ($3.10 billion), First Quantum Minerals retain its top spot for 2011 following ($2.25 billion) and uranium powerhouse its takeover of copper producer Cameco ($2.12 billion). Equinox Minerals. Strong commodity prices have had a Last year’s leader, potash producer healthy effect on most of Canada’s min- Agrium, was a close second with ing companies. Gold, base metals, pot- $11.07 billion (if a couple hundred ash, metallurgical coal and iron ore are million dollars can be called close) alln i high demand, and they are all behind Barrick. enjoying prices at or near historical In third place is Teck Resources with highs. 6 The 1 top companies on our list gross revenues of $9.34 billion. Strong all had gross revenues of over a billion copper prices and coal demand kept dollars. A year ago we found 12 compa- Teckn i the same position as last year. A nies above the billion-dollar mark.

14 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com Canada’s Top 40 by Gross Revenue Millions of Canadian Dollars 2010 2009 Company Year Revenue Net earnings Assets Revenue Net earnings Assets End (loss) (loss) 1 Barrick Gold Dec 31 Gold-Copper 11,251,720 3,372,220 34,321,660 8,380,080 (4,402,220) 27,887,250 2 Agrium Dec 31 Potash 11,065,290 752,930 13,098,510 9,607,840 376,980 10,078,550 3 Teck Resources Dec 31 Coal-Base metals 9,339,000 1,975,000 29,209,000 7,674,000 1,900,000 29,873,000 4 Suncor Energy (oil sands only) Dec 31 Oil sands 7,028,000 1,492,000 40,060,000 4,135,000 557,000 36,837,000 5 Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Dec 31 Potash 6,734,758 1,860,386 16,087,879 4,096,001 1,010,121 13,309,866 6 Goldcorp Dec 31 Gold 3,913,794 1,613,083 29,673,373 2,805,308 245,346 21,577,161 7 Canadian Oil Sands Dec 31 Oil sands 3,460,000 886,000 7,016,000 2,779,000 432,000 6,953,000 8 Kinross Gold Dec 31 Gold 3,100,403 794,748 16,889,013 2,484,463 319,197 8,272,960 9 First Quantum Minerals Dec 31 Gold-Copper 2,449,546 (56,032) 5,416,358 1,920,126 563,925 4,701,538 10 Cameco Dec 31 Uranium 2,123,655 514,749 7,671,368 2,314,985 1,099,422 7,393,861 11 Sherritt International Dec 31 Coal-Nickel 1,771,100 214,000 10,721,500 1,474,900 85,700 9,908,400 12 Yamana Gold Dec 31 Gold 1,737,415 464,987 10,608,218 1,218,813 198,410 9,998,478 13 Agnico-Eagle Mines Dec 31 Gold 1,465,197 342,079 5,665,362 632,175 89,134 4,374,778 14 IamGold Dec 31 Gold 1,202,262 288,187 3,381,435 941,769 117,547 3,086,693 15 Inmet Mining Dec 31 Gold-Base metals 1,098,087 358,898 3,262,567 983,885 269,169 2,904,149 16 Equinox Minerals Dec 31 Copper 1,078,190 277,178 3,339,564 547,921 (188,555) 1,501,404 17 Quadra FNX Mining Dec 31 Gold-Base metals 986,389 177,630 2,919,102 493,007 82,896 1,284,436 18 Lundin Mining Dec 31 Base metals 874,670 321,488 3,948,390 768,369 75,917 3,852,347 19 Centerra Gold Dec 31 Gold 871,867 332,319 1,438,572 706,055 62,122 1,106,248 20 Eldorado Gold Dec 31 Gold 814,910 214,305 3,893,297 369,221 105,476 3,539,191 21 HudBay Minerals Dec 31 Base metals 778,818 70,038 2,173,086 720,722 112,480 2,032,686 22 Pan American Silver Dec 31 Silver 650,946 115,950 2,134,786 468,456 63,858 1,904,067 23 Thompson Creek Metals Dec 31 Molybdenum 612,644 117,111 2,387,231 384,602 57,680 1,384,938 24 New Gold Dec 31 Gold 546,364 182,263 2,821,081 333,493 (200,145) 2,562,907 25 Northgate Minerals Dec 31 Gold-Copper 499,598 (73,855) 932,649 499,525 (50,991) 763,929 26 High River Gold Mines Dec 31 Gold 440,769 114,852 812,332 369,349 (9,764) 706,962 27 Harry Winston Jan 31 Diamonds 425,288 (75,371) 1,539,649 627,497 72,225 1,613,572 28 Breakwater Dec 31 Base metals-PMs 372,338 87,218 731,356 226,438 809 595,251 29 Uranium One Dec 31 Uranium 336,656 (195,393) 3,470,129 156,552 (37,170) 2,213,580 30 Semafo Dec 31 Gold 335,033 106,343 599,532 248,012 44,810 372,609 31 Capstone Mining Dec 31 Gold-Copper 310,362 74,771 650,677 257,916 (18,876) 567,613 32 Taseko Mines Dec 31 Copper-Moly 265,804 148,598 687,612 180,115 10,561 535,095 33 Imperial Metals Dec 31 Gold-Copper 246,851 35,323 440,041 201,137 (12,759) 337,071 34 Gammon Gold Dec 31 Gold 245,414 (151,912) 843,970 213,005 8,451 993,299 35 Iberian Minerals Dec 31 Gold-Copper 233,525 (86,921) 584,053 148,627 (229,352) 538,009 36 Grande Cache Coal Mar 31 Coal 232,530 20,107 337,698 248,628 106,219 259,182 37 Dundee Precious Metals Dec 31 Gold 207,849 21,139 837,753 141,700 5,2780 551,480 38 Alamos Gold Dec 31 Gold 194,950 67,656 544,245 176,573 57,641 371,090 39 Mercator Minerals Dec 31 Copper-Moly 188,041 (176,321) 436,994 91,358 (57,793) 392,492 40 Mirabela Nickel Dec 31 Nickel 184,534 (49,047) 1,153,910 n/a 989 993,487

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 15 | Top 40

The mining industry has done an amaz- Minerals (106%) and Quadra FNX (100%). leads the list of top earners ($3.37 billion) ing f job o bouncing back from the global Barrick does not appear on the list because far f ahead o second place Teck ($1.98 bil- economic implosion of 2008, and the out- it recorded a net loss for 2009, and the lion). The next three top earners – look for commodity prices remains bright. mathematics are not applicable. PotashCorp ($1.86 billion), Goldcorp Whent i comes to posting large year-over- Rakingn i billions in gross revenues is ($1.61 billion) and Suncor ($1.42 billion) – year increases in gross revenue, the five one thing. Holding onto the money and close out the billionaires’ club of top earners. companies with the largest revenue change turningt i into net earnings is another thing. Of course, the $465 million earned by allt a least doubled their bottom lines. They Not surprisingly, the companies who rank tenth-place Yamana Gold is also an are Agnico-Eagle (132%), Eldorado Gold highestn i gross revenues also tend to be extremely profitable result for a single year. (121%), Uranium One (115%), Mercator those with the largest net earnings. Barrick Lookingt a net earnings as percentage of CANADA’S TOP REVENUE GAINERS 2010 (C$ MILLIONS) Company 2010 2009 Revenue Change Agnico-Eagle Mines 1,465,197 632,175 132% Eldorado Gold 814,910 369,221 121% Uranium One 336,656 156,552 115% Mercator Minerals 188,041 91,358 106% Quadra FNX Mining 986,389 493,007 100% Equinox Minerals 1,078,190 547,921 97% Suncor Energy (oil sands only) 7,028,000 4,135,000 70% Breakwater 372,338 226,438 64% Potash Corp of Saskatchewan 6,734,758 4,096,001 64% New Gold 546,364 333,493 64% Thompson Creek Metals 612,644 384,602 59% Iberian Minerals 233,525 148,627 57% Taseko Mines 265,804 180,115 48% Dundee Precious Metals 207,849 141,700 47% Yamana Gold 1,737,415 1,218,813 43%

TOP EARNERS (C$ MILLIONS) Company 2010 Net 2009 Net Revenue Earnings Earnings Change (loss) (loss) Barrick Gold 3,372,220 (4,402,220) n/a Teck Resources 1,975,000 1,900,000 4% WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE TOP 40? Potash Corp of Saskatchewan 1,860,386 1,010,121 84% Determining a list of Canada’s Top 40 min- ing companies takes time and research. Fi- Goldcorp 1,613,083 245,346 557% nancial statements, annual reports and other Suncor Energy (oil sands only) 1,492,000 557,000 168% public information must be examined for well Canadian Oil Sands 886,000 432,000 105% over 100 companies. We keep in mind that eligible companies Kinross Gold 794,748 319,197 149% must meet two of the following three criteria: Agrium 752,930 376,980 100% • A company must be traded on a Canadian stock exchange. Cameco 514,749 1,099,422 -53% • A company must be domiciled in Canada. Yamana Gold 464,987 198,410 134% • A company must own or have a significant equity interest in a producing mine in Canada. 284% Agnico-Eagle Mines 342,079 89,134 Companies with a project in the advanced de- Centerra Gold 332,319 62,122 435% velopment stage may also be considered. Lundin Mining 321,488 75,917 323% For example, a company with its head of- IamGold 288,187 117,547 145%

16 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com gross revenue, the picture is a little different. is Suncor ($40.1 billion), followed by panies.o T compare them with notes about In first place Taseko Mines, ranked 32nd on Barrick ($34.3 billion), Goldcorp ($29.7 how the growth was obtained might be the 0 Top 4 list, managed to turn 56% of its billion), Teck ($29.2 billion) and Kinross the topic for another day. revenue into earnings. Barrick, by contrast, ($16.9 billion). Any e way w want to measure it, the Top ranked ninth, proving perhaps that it takes Consideration was given to ranking 40 Canadian miners have many reasons to a f lot o money to run a big company. companies by asset growth in 2010 over be f proud o what they do. And to Barrick A quick look at the companies with the 2009. A problem quickly arose. Assets Goldo g the bragging rights of being largest assets reveals that the leaders by growy b exploration efforts, increases in Canada’s largest mining company by gross this benchmark are also the companies commodity prices, the opening of a new revenues a well as the world’s largest gold that n rake i the most revenues. The leader mine,r o the merger of two or more com- producer. Congratulations! CMJ EARNINGS AS A PER CENT OF REVENUE (C$ MILLIONS) Company Gross Net Earnings Earnings vs Revenue (loss) Revenue Taseko Mines 265,804 148,598 56% Goldcorp 3,913,794 1,613,083 41% Centerra Gold 871,867 332,319 38% Lundin Mining 874,670 321,488 37% Alamos Gold 194,950 67,656 35% New Gold 546,364 182,263 33% Inmet Mining 1,098,087 358,898 33% Semafo 335,033 106,343 32% Barrick Gold 11,251,720 3,372,220 30% Potash Corp of Saskatchewan 6,734,758 1,860,386 28% Yamana Gold 1,737,415 464,987 27% Eldorado Gold 814,910 214,305 26% High River Gold Mines 440,769 114,852 26% Equinox Minerals 1,078,190 277,178 26% Kinross Gold 3,100,403 794,748 26%

TOP ASSET HOLDERS (C$ MILLIONS) Company 2010 2009 Change 40,060,000 36,837,000 9% Barrick Gold 34,321,660 27,887,250 23% WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE TOP 40? Goldcorp 29,673,373 21,577,161 38% fice in Toronto and its stock trading on the TSX or Teck Resources 29,209,000 29,873,000 -2% TSX-V would be “Canadian” even if all its produc- Kinross Gold 16,889,013 8,272,960 104% ing mines were offshore. Companies with foreign head offices and that do not trade in Canada, did Potash Corp of Saskatchewan 16,087,879 13,309,866 21% not make the list even if they have substantial as- Agrium 13,098,510 10,078,550 30% sets in this country. Numbers that were reported in U.S. dollars Sherritt International 10,721,500 9,908,400 8% have been converted to thousands of Canadian Yamana Gold 10,608,218 9,998,478 6% dollars at a rate of US$1.00 equals C$1.03, the Cameco 7,671,368 7,393,861 4% average exchange rate calculated by the Bank of Canada for the 2010 calendar year. Canadian Oil Sands 7,016,000 6,953,000 1% We make every effort to include all eligible Agnico-Eagle Mines 5,665,362 4,374,778 30% companies. If you believe your enterprise should be listed among the Top 40, please write to the First Quantum Minerals 5,416,358 4,701,538 15% author at: Lundin Mining 3,948,390 3,852,347 2% [email protected]. Eldorado Gold 3,893,297 3,539,191 10%

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 17 | Cover Story

REDGETS METAL

By Russell NobleHOT RECEPTION opper may end up on some Copper Mountain Mining (75%) and great f deal o explo- “hot” lists thanks to its popular- Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (25%), is ration and drilling ity with thieves but there’s cer- an open-pit porphyry structure with an took place long tainly nothing criminal about expected mine life of 17 years. At full pro- before the first how Copper Mountain Mining duction, the mine will employ 272 person- shovel went into Cis stealing headlines around the world nel and with an indirect job creation multi- the ground. In fact, now that its Copper Mountain Mine has plierfo o 4 t 1, the mine could create over Copper Mountain gone into production 1000 indirect jobs. The Town of Princeton Mining worked on a With copper gaining in popularity but isn i accordance that the mine will benefit three-pronged explo- decliningn i supply, the demand for the the community at large and it is extremely ration strategy involv- “red metal” is increasing around the popular with the local residents. ing initial targets, sec- world, particularly in developing coun- As mentioned earlier, the mine is a ondary targets, and final- tries where copper wiring is essential to massive resource and over the current ly deep porphyry targets. future electrification projects. mine life plan, it will produce 1.47 billion Initial targets included test- In fact, China wants between 35% and poundsf o copper, 452,000 oz of gold, and ing historical resources with the 45%f o what the world’s copper producers 4.5 million ounces of silver. The proven existing pits and the areas between 1, are capable of supplying (North America and probable mineral reserve aggregate is 2 n and 3 i the saddle zone area. wants only about 10%) so right away, 211.1 million tonnes, averaging 0.36% Cu The second set of targets included Copper Mountain Mining’s current containing 1.7 billion pounds of copper Virginia, Mill Zone, Alabama deposit, resourcef o approximately 5 billion (asf o mid-2009). The mineral reserve is Oriel deposit, Voigt Zone and in Alabama poundsf o copper looks pretty inviting. partf o the resource included in the open and Copper Mountain Trends. From its 18,000 acre mine site located pit plan framed by Hatch and is based on The deep porphyry targets included 20m k south of the Town of Princeton in economic cut off grade of 0.15%. Deep Penetration Titan 24 Geophysical southern British Columbia, the Copper Measured and indicated resources survey which had been completed assist- Mountain project is now on schedule to total 518.6Mt grades at 0.31 % Cu while ing deeper exploration for underground produce approximately 100 million inferred resources have been estimated at zonesf o higher grades. poundsf o copper per year with gold and 390.7Mt grading at 0.23% Cu for a com- The deposit at the mine site is classified silvers a by-product metals. bined f total o 5 billion pounds of copper. asn a alkali porphyry copper deposit with a The $438-million mine, owned by Like most projects of this magnitude, a gold admixture. It is part of a northerly

18 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com One of the key design ingredients of every ball mill is the steel ball itself and above photo shows just a few of the thousands that are required by Copper Mountain Mining to grind the crushed ore as it’s fed into mill’s steel cylinder.

A rare look into a partially built ball mill (left) and teams of workers on the outside give scale to the size of the mills at the Copper Mountain Mine. As complicated as it was to build the mills, it’s equally challenging and important to monitor (below) the entire operation to help ensure that it’s performing as designed.

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 19 | Cover Story

A f total o about 106,000 m of drilling was completed in 2008. The focus was to determine a new merged pit known as “super pit” which is wider and deeper than originally planned to access addi- tional mineralization at depth. 2010 was a year of merit for the com- pany,st a i got its permit from the Government of BC on April 1, 2010 to proceed with construction as well as in May 2010 closed the necessary debt financing for the project in the amount of $322 million, to complete construction. With the “super pit” clearly defined, Copper Mountain Mining moved for- wardy b stock piling ore as part of prepro- duction mining activities in November of 2010. A coarse ore stock pile of more than 190,000 tonnes of mill feed was crushed in Creating a massive stockpile of ore was part of the company’s preproduction mining activities the company’s new on-site primary crush- prior to when the mine’s new mill was commissioned in June 2011. er and moved by an overland conveyor trending Mesozoic tectonostratigraphic ter- providing additional verification of his- system until early June 2011 when the rane known as Quesnellia. torical drill data and testing between the mine’s new mill was commissioned. Technically, the major rock formation existing open pits which confirmed the Powero t the mill was supplied through of Quesnellia is late Triassic Nicola group. continuityf o mineralization between pits a power extension from an existing 138kV This group of rocks has a stratigraphic resultingn i a super pit. At the end of the power line. The source is also being used thicknessf o approximately 7.5 km and for year, Copper Mountain Mining reported to power pit shovel and drills at the mine. a5 2 km-wide band extending from the on the Titan deep 24 penetration geo- In f terms o mining equipment, a proj- Canada/US border north to beyond physical survey on a 13 km2 area over ectf o this scale required a huge fleet of Kamloops Lake. existing pits, and concluded that there was machines totaling over $85 million. The Drilling initially started at the site in a continuity of mineralization between fleet includes two Komatsu PC 8000 January 2007 and focused primarily on the pits and at depth. hydraulic shovels, being used as the main

Two of the larger pieces of equipment at the Copper Mountain Mine are the Komatsu PC 8000 shovel and the 830E haul trucks. loading units in the mine, a total of 13, 240-ton haul trucks moving about The above aerial photo shows the size of the Copper Mountain Mine while the surrounding photos 160,000 tonnes of material per day, and a show various stages of production including delivery of ore to the crusher and stockpiling. KomatsuA W 1200 front-end loader as a backup loading unit, as well as a fleet of support equipment. As for the new processing plant itself, it is a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation processes designed for a nominal throughput of 35,000 tpd The grinding circuit consists of 1, 36-foot diameter SAG mill, followed by 2 parallel 24-foot diam- eter ball mills. All three mills are equipped with dual-drive 8,500 horse power motors. These motors are unique to the copper Mountain Mine because approximately a monthly basis. The gest copper mine in Canada; not bad for although they are identical, they can mine plan focuses on mining and mill- a company that just started some four- operatet a variable speeds. That means ing the higher grade ore first, with lower and-a-half years ago. they are more flexible than conven- grade material being stockpiled for pro- Western Copper’s new mine is off to a tional motors and will help to opti- cessing later on in the mine life. The great start. Its site offers the company mize production in the mill. facilitys i designed to operate 24 hours roomo t grow and its aggressive business The s plant i a standard float circuit per day, 365 days per year. In the first plan says that’s exactly what it will do that will produce a copper concentrate 12 f years o the mine’s life, it is forecast through continued exploration, mergers which will be trucked from the mine to to produce 105 million lbs of copper per and acquisitions. It looks like Western Vancouver daily, and shipped to Japan year, 27,000 ounces of gold and 330,000 Copper Mining will be making headlines for treatment and refinement on ouncesf o silver, making it the third lar- for many years to come. CMJ

Fleets of haulers are required to keep the feed of ore moving in order to produce what is expected to become one of the larger copper operations in the world.

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 21 | Outside Canada

Fire River Gold revives Nixon Fork project in mining-friendly Alaska

Vancouver junior hopes to grow remote small tonnage fly-in camp into a viable producer and cornerstone for big gold-player goals

By Northern Correspondent Bill Braden

he long days of the Alaska He’s leading an experienced team of recoveries and near-fatal corporate dis- summer are lighting up a Canadian and American professionals tress when the company faltered under remote, decades-old gold in reviving a property that charts its his- the global economy meltdown. property that Vancouver tory o back t the 1920s and a clanking St. Andrew’s has since recovered, but it junior Fire River Gold gold-stamp mill that pounded out four hado t jettison the well-equipped Nixon Corporation hopes will ounces per ton. Fork camp (estimated at $150 million Tlauncht i into the lucrative league of Since then the remote south-central Cdn replacement cost) at a bargain base- gold producers riding the metal’s sus- Alaska find, among a swath of mines ment $500,000 US. That price, and the tained bull run. clustered along the vast Tintina gold fact t that i was fully permitted, made “Very few juniors have a chance to get belt, has had a series of on-off produc- Nixon Fork a prime opportunity. (The into production, and this one has an tion runs. The latest was by another mine was actually built by Nevada excellent chance to become profitable Canadian miner, St. Andrew Goldfields Goldfields, and between 1993 and 1999, producer,” says President and Chief Ltd., which gave it up after only five until low gold prices forced its closure, it Operating Officer, Richard Goodwin. monthsn i 2007, halted by dismal gold recovered 138,000 ounces of gold and 2.1 million pounds of copper.) Overall, Nixon Fork looked like a good fit for International Metals Group, the Canadian group of mining executives and investors who have far-flung gold, base metal and platinum group metals interests in Quebec and Congo as well as Alaska. IMG created Fire River Gold in 2009 to exploit the Nixon Fork property.

Benevolent Alaskan mining climate Goodwin, a professional engineer with over 25 n years i underground mining and man- From its remote “fly-in” site only, Fire River Gold hopes to turn its historic Alaska mine into a agementt a Westmin Resources, MRDI gold-producing operation in the near future. Canada, Snowden and Redcorp Resources,

22 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com says the location really had no bearing on with another business,” says Goodwin. makingt i a stand-out even among the Canadian company’s strategy. Several Doyon shareholders (members) Canada’s most remote mines which have “The fact that it was in Alaska was workt a the mine, and the catering is con- at least seasonal access by winter road or irrelevant… the fact that it’s in a safe tracted with Nana Corporation, another ocean tidewater. One of Nixon Fork’s key region, and that it was permitted, was Alaskan First Nation. assetss i a 1.2 kilometre gravel strip used enormous. What you want is a place where you have a high degree of success Labour hard to find and you’re not going to get blindsided by Despiter - o perhaps because of - Alaska’s random government actions. Alaska is mine-friendly culture and economy, certainly a very good state to deal with.” recruiting workers to upfit and operate Alaska has what’s called the Large Mines the 150 tonne-per-day mine and mill is Permitting Group, which assigns one repre- proving a challenge, says Goodwin. The sentative for all State activities. “So we can minimum worker requirement is a deal with one person who coordinates... any 40-hour MSHA (Mine Safety and Health aspectf o permitting, which we find quite Administration) course as well as a day- helpful,” says Goodwin. long on-site orientation. Another distinction favouring Alaska, Like other remote Canadian sites, the says Goodwin, is the business approach bigger barrier to hiring may be its isolation. adoptedy b its First Nations. While Fire The Nixon Fork property is perched among River Gold’s lease is on public land that rolling, boreal forest 56 km from McGrath, predates statehood, it is surrounded by the nearest village, and 360 km from its land owned by the Doyon, one of 12 logistics and supply base at Anchorage. Alaskan native groups included under the This summer, about 90 builders and State’s 1971 native land settlement act. miners e will b on the payroll working four- “They’ve been extremely good neigh- and-two week rotations. Sixty are at site bours...e w work quite cooperatively with working 12-hour shifts, while the others are them. One very good aspect of dealing in outn o their two week leave. Technical staff Underground work at the Fire River Gold mine Alaskas i the native nations. They function works a two-and-two week rotation. involves continuous blast-face work (top) and like corporations, very much like dealing Its i exclusively a fly-in operation, on-going checks of data at the historic site.

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 23 | Outside Canada

by heavy-lift transporter Lynden Air for its C-130 Hercules, and Evert Air Cargo’s DC-6 for its fuel resupply. Routine traffic is chartered through Alaska Air Transit and its nine-passenger Navaho Chieftain aircraft, all based out of Anchorage. “Its p i set u be a fly-in only operation, and logistics will always be a very strong component of operations, we have to keep managing that correctly,” he cautions, add- ing, f “but i you have to be in a remote loca- tion, gold’s what you want to be mining.” Casen i point: the landed cost of a gal- lonf s o fuel i $6, and the mine will need 700,000 gallons a year.

Low tonnage needs high grade The Nixon Fork mine will harvest a projected 50,000 ounces a year at a cash costf o approximately $500Cdn per tonne for mined gold, yielding a pre-tax incomef o $40 million based on $1,400 gold. Inferred and indicated reserves grades a high as 27.8 grams per tonne. Fire River’s Nixon Fork Gold Mine is located about 360 km from its logistics and supply base at Anchorage. Goodwin says the first six months of

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24 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com production will be from pockets of Andn a old mine, after a series of own- Creek property, a placer producer with readily accessible ore. ers, also comes with its own quirks; geolo- lode gold potential 110 km south of Some 20,000 meters of recent diamond gists are trying to make order of some Fairbanks, along with the Draken proj- drilling have defined the deposit. The com- 120,000 meters of old drill core. ect, its first Alaskan holding, 288 km pany’s exploration strategy is to find at least But when Fire River Gold begins southeastf o Fairbanks. one year’s reserves in advance, to keep the shipping concentrate and pouring dore “Whate w want to do is get this project 150 tonne-per-day gravity, flotation and this summer, it hopes it will be the going, s get u into profitability and grow the [newly constructed] cyanidation circuits beginningf o a long and healthy future company,” says Goodwin. “But we have to goingo t meet a 96 per cent recovery target. in gold, including the optioned Kansas lookt a getting this one going first.” CMJ Rehabilitation has been declared com- plete, said a company release July 4th, and the gradual process of starting and condi- tioning the mill began that day. Nixon Fork is essentially two ore bod- ies, accessed by ramps to a depth of about 300 meters. Goodwin says that along with the new cyanide circuit, he’s doubling the capacity of scoop trams to four yards, and truckso0 t 2 tonnes, but otherwise is not bringingn i any major changes. “The main challenge is grade,” says Goodwin. “We’ve got to achieve high grade, it’s a low tonnage operation. The ore body does have high grade pockets, so the chal- lengeso i t find them in sufficient cohesion. At 150 tonnes a day, it has to be very high gradeo t carry the cost.... the mill cannot be easily expanded, but may be in the future”. While silver and copper are also pres- ent,0 9 per cent of the production by value is gold. Silver/gold dore bars will be refinedn i Utah, while copper/gold con- centrate will likely go to Asia. Nestledn i a skarn deposit some 26 kilo- metres around, Goodwin says probably 10 per cent has been probed. “All around that perimeters i potential for good exploration sites.” The deposit’s metamorphic geology also has the advantage of leaving a “very clean” tailings and drystack footprint.

Jumpstart for more Alaskan mining A preliminary economic assessment pins Fire River Gold’s capital costs at $6.3 mil- lion Cdn with a speed-of-light payback of a mere three months, given operating costsf o $447 per ounce of gold. But Goodwin and his team are dealing with the realities of an admittedly complex geology,n i a wild and remote place with big logistical and transportation needs (remi- niscentf o the now-mothballed Lupin gold minen i Nunavut, a 2,000 tonne per day mine built entirely via by air in 1982 from Yellowknife- - a 1000 km roundtrip).

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 25 | Outside Canada

MINEFINDERS THE NAME SAYS IT ALL CANADA’S “MINEFINDERS”RESTORE INTEREST IN HISTORIC MINING REGION By Russell Noble ith a name like mechanized production of gold and silver still had plenty to offer. And more impor- Minefinders., there’s occurredn i the area between 1915 and tantly, a future. little doubt what the 1931. The total production during this Three years into its quest of buying companys i all about. time was about 372,000 tonnes of ore con- property, Minefinders acquired some It’s a name that leaves taining more than 116,000 ounces of gold 27,700a h and with these concessions Wnothingo t question because, quite frank- and 6 million ounces of silver. under its control, the company started an ly, Vancouver-based Minefinders When production from the various aggressive drilling program. Over the fol- Corporation Ltd. is a company on a mis- underground mine stoping operations lowing few years, more than 200,000 m of siono t find mines and that’s exactly what stoppedn i 1931, the entire Dolores region combined core and reverse circulation it has done with the discovery of its went dormant. It wasn’t until almost 60 drilling and 850 holes were punched into Dolores Mine in northern Mexico. years later in 1993, when Minefinders the Mexican landscape. Like most new discoveries, however, Corporation started buying property in As suspected, mineralization was pres- “Dolores”s i not new tna all. I fact, his- the Sierra Madre Occidental Range, that entn i a NNW-striking, steeply dipping tory tells that mining in the Dolores interestn i mining the region was restored. structural zone at the Dolores site and regionf o the Sierra Madre Occidental History had shown the region had the occursn i a area over 4,000 m long and Range, where “Dolores” is located, dates resources and Minefinders was convinced upo t 1,000 m wide with more than 700 m backo t the 1800s. that through modern technology and fur- of vertical extent. The bulk of the deposit Later more detailed records show that ther exploration that the Dolores region is n high i the system where feeders wid-

26 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com Adjacent photo show the extent of development at the Dolores site.

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August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 27 | DepartmentOutside Canada Here

vein and dissemination gold-silver min- eralization is known to extend in a NNW and SSE direction beyond the current limits of the resource estimate area. This mineralization may be con- sidered exploration potential and may eventuallye b classed as resource. As with all discoveries, the resources are f only o value if they can be mined. In the f case o the Dolores project, the prop- ertys i located about 94 km by road (45 kmy b air) southwest of the Town of Madera, and 250 km west of the City of Chihauhua. It is serviced by a 92-km access road suitable for truck traffic. Alternative access is via dirt roads More than 200,000 m of combined core and reverse circulation drilling and 850 holes have been drilled at the Dolores site. from Madera or light aircraft landing on a dirt landing strip located about 8 km from ened into breccias and stockworks up to a structurest a upper levels has lower grades the mine site. Topography is rugged, with few hundred metres wide that formed a in the range of 0.3 to 2.0 gpt gold and up elevations ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 m, halo around the main structures. to 150 gpt silver. and s water i available from a small local Gradesn i the feeders are in the 10 to The width of the coherent mineral- reservoirr o from underground workings. 30 gpt gold and 300 to more than 1,000 ization commonly is about 200 up to Recovery operations at the Dolores gpt silver. Disseminated mineralization 300 m wide, and lies in zones that trend mine are entirely conventional with ore that lies aB100626djacent Coal to R&Dhigh-grade Advert Canadian feeder Mining NNW Journal and 178x124_FA.pdf dip steeply t o 1t he 7/1/11west. S ome10:40 AMbeing mined in an open pit and trucked to

28 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com a three-stage crushing system, and then making a construction decision on La Bolsa north-west of it’s Dolores Mine. This conveyedo t and stacked on permanent before the end of 2011. property had never been drilled before. pads where it is leached using a sodium Elsewheret a its other properties in Results thus far have been encouraging cyanide solution. northern Mexico, Minefinders has with the discovery of a new gold and The resulting solution containing the recommenced exploration on its grass- silver system at La Virginia reporting gold and silver is processed in a standard roots properties. In 2010, the Company 6.46 grams per tonne gold-equivalent Merrill-Crowe recovery plant to recover started drilling on its 32,000 hectare La over7 6 metres in June 2011. Minefinders the precious metals for smelting, and Virginia property, located in Sonora planso t drill over 12,500 metres at La transporting to a refinery. state, Mexico, about 100 kilometres Virginian i 2011. CMJ The current mine plan estimates pro- ductionf o 107.64 million tonnes of prov- en and probable ore reserves at an average gradef o 0.58 gpt gold and 33.1 gpt silver with a strip ratio of 3.43:1. Weighted aver- age recovery from the leach pad is esti- matedt a 74% for gold and 51% for silver. The6 1 year life-of-mine plan contem- plates placement of approximately 2.024 million ounces of gold and 114.52 million ouncesf o silver on the heap leach pad and recoveryf o 1.498 ounces of gold and 58.4 million ounces of silver (3.15 million ouncesf o AuEq using a gold to silver ratio of2o 5 t one). This year, Minefinders says it expects to produce and sell approximately 65,000 to 70,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million to 3.5 million ounces of silver. The Dolores Mine has a sustainable capital budget this year of $12.3 million which includes $4.7 million to complete the construction of a reservoir dam, $1.8 million in drilling equipment, $1.6 n million i plant modifications and $4.2 millionn i infrastructure and other operat- ing equipment. As mentioned earlier, Minefinders still has f plenty o property around its Dolores mine for expansion. The company has set a development budget of $3.5 million that primarily includes development drilling to expand reserves and resources and to focusn o infill drilling, pit expansion to the south, and underground resource def- inition. This, coupled with the Company’s planso t add a mill at Dolores, will help to leverage the upside potential in the future. The Dolores Mine is a real “find” in the worldf o mining but then again, look at the f name o the company responsible for turning this discovery into a reality. Before discovering Dolores, Minefinders discovered its La Bolsa property located near the town of Nogales, Mexico. The focus has been on Dolores in the last few years but now the Company hopes to con- tinue its plan to find and develop mines by

August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 29 | Outside Canada “SILVER STATE” STAYS TRUE TO ITSROOTS CANADIAN MINER DEVELOPS HISTORIC DESERT DEPOSITS By Russell Noble ypicalf o many mining projects in of the historic Schell Creek Range, about Nevada, drills, hammers, and even 25m k south of the Town of Ely. explosives don’t upset the neigh- As mentioned at the outset, miners bours because there aren’t too many aren’t attracted to Nevada for its urban of them around. In fact, aside from attractions and the Town of Ely (located snakes, coyotes, and the odd moun- about m 280 k north of Las Vegas and 320 Ttain lion, many mine sites in the State are, km f east o Reno) is not a distraction in that on most accounts, as far from urban centres way because it is a typical small town (pop. as almost anywhere in the country. 4,255) surrounded by mineral-rich moun- And that doesn’t bother the miners in tains hosting deposits of gold, copper, silver the least because they’re out there looking and base metals. Nearby mines include for riches and not necessarily ways to spend Bald Mountain, Robinson Copper, Alligator or lose them, especially in a State known for Ridge and Ward Mountain. usually taking back more that it gives. Ely, Nevada, wasn’t always so quiet. In Historically, Nevada had been known fact,t i was founded as a stagecoach sta- as a “gold” state because it did, in fact, tion along the famous Pony Express and produce almost 80% of all the gold in the Central Overland Route and when copper United States. The advent of disseminated was discovered in the region in 1906, it gold leaching technology lead to the state became a mining town. becoming one of the world’s largest gold With the discovery of copper came the producersn i the 1970s. But long before miners and shortly afterwards, the rail- that, mining in Nevada started with the roads followed and to this day, rail is still rich silver veins of the Comstock Load usedo t ship copper concentrate from the and Treasure Hill districts discovered by areao t Seattle, where it is transported to prospectors travelling to and from the Japan for smelting. gold fields of the “Mother Load” in But silver from the Taylor Mining Californian i 1860. District (just 15 minutes south of Ely on Today, however, Nevada still contains the State Highway 6) is what is attracting min- second highest amount of silver in the coun- ers o back t the region and one of those is try s (Alaska i number one), and because of Vancouver-based Silver Predator Corp. that,ts i i known as “The Silver State.” Since taking over the Taylor property Regardlessf o the mineral, the resources from its sister company Golden Predator in Nevada are plentiful and when it comes Mines US, Silver Predator has also assumed to silver, few places match the Taylor responsibility for a 1,320 tpd mill with flota- Mining District, located on the west flank tion and cyanide leach plants.

30 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com Above aerial view of Silver Predator’s Taylor property clearly shows the site in relation to its isolated, but mineral-rich surroundings in northern Nevada.

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August 2011• Canadian Mining Journal | 31 | Outside Canada

The Taylor mill complex, dormant for (including its Plata Project in Yukon) more 0 than 2 years now, consists of pri- exploration drilling is a priority in the mary, secondary and tertiary crushers, company’s business plan and the Taylor eight ball mills, a leaching and counter- Projectso i n exception. current decantation thickening circuit, a A f total o 3,594 m of angled RC holes flotation circuit, maintenance shop, an were recently drilled at the site to both assay office, an electrical substation, and a infill and expand the existing defined mine office. resource, and to test for high-grade silver While little has been done to maintain the along near vertical veins beneath the dis- mill,ts i i still considered to be in very good seminated silver deposit. shape.t I will need to have its electrical system Highlights from the first 25 holes and Merril Crowe circuit retrofitted to bring include SPT11-004 averaging 37 g/t silver the facility back into production. over , 36.6 m SPT11-017 assaying 35.3 g/t As for the Taylor property itself, which silver over 27.4 m, SPT11-011 averaging consistsf o approximately 3,900 acres of 57.8 g/t silver over 18.3 m, and SPT11-015 mining claims, it includes a National assaying7 6 g/t silver over 13.7 m. Instrument 43-101 compliant resource With results like these, it’s no wonder consistingf o 1,123,000 tonnes of 85.71 g/t that Silver Predator is excited about its silver measured mineral resource, and Taylor Mine and Mill Project in Nevada 4,712,000 tonnes of 77.83 g/t Ag indicated Even though it doesn’t have neighbours to mineral resource totaling 14.9 million watcht i grow, there’s a good possibility ounces contained silver; along with an that word will spread throughout the additional 1.9 million ounces of silver mining community as the company con- Extensive exploration and recording of data is fromn a inferred mineral resource of tinueso t prove that Canadian miners talking place as Silver Predator continues work 687,000 tonnes grading 87.1 g/t silver. knowo n boundaries when it comes to on its 3,900-acre Taylor property in Nevada. As with all Silver Predator properties, developing the world’s resources. CMJ

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34 | Canadian Mining Journal • August 2011 www.canadianminingjournal.com Drilling rig for narrow tunnels Atlas Copco announces the availability of its Boomer T1 D, a face-drilling rig designed for narrow tunnels and drifts. The new machine features a number of improvements and options including a more powerful and cleaner engine for higher tramming speeds and a new boom suspension system to help reduce stress on the machine. A more ergonomic and comfortable cabin with better visibility is part of the optional extras, and serviceability has been improved with more accessible service points. The frame is also stronger and has a lower centre of gravity and has an oversized articulation to cope with demanding operating conditions. For more information contact: www.atlasscopco.com

Crushing and screening plant Initeria Machine Corporation has just introduced its 5066 Tracker, a mobile track-mounted crusher designed to handle up to 700 tph. The machine offers trailer-free transport and is complete with its own removable axles for easy transport. No trailers or multiple truck loads are required. Also, there is no need to remove any component from the 5006 Tracker before it is transported to the pit. Most convention units offer 8 cu yd hopper that may require hopper extension wings but this machine fea- tures a 14 cu yd non-heaping hopper for increased productivity. Other features on the machine include a 60 in. by 18 ft variable speed drive vibrating grizzly feeder that is combined with a 42 in. by 65 in. feed open- ing. Its 42 in. by 38 ft discharge conveyor with motorized head pulley is rated at up to 1500 tph. The machine is powered by a John Deere 400 hp Tier III diesel engine and a 125 kW genera- tor. The 5066 Tracker operates via a self-con- tained and belt-driven power source, which help eliminate failures typically associated with hydraulic-driven units. For more information contact : www.inertiamac.com

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John Gravelle, PwC Mining Leader for the Americas

By John Gravelle

hen thinking about Colombia’s commonplace. A more modern view of licensing reform to make it easier for min- burgeoning mining industry, it Colombias i a relatively safe and politically erso t navigate through the process, and Wstrikeses m a similar to a rising stable country that has moved light years the creation of a mining authority model Hollywood star. Colombia has become a away from its violent and unstable past. to ease current regulation challenges. household name in the sector. Its growth In the minds of Colombians, the min- These reforms are a massive undertaking, potential and untapped sources of gold and ing industry itself also conjures up two but the vigour in which the government is other resources have made it a red-hot min- differing perspectives. Among many local takingo t address existing challenges ing destination, and international attention populations, an antiquated view of the paints a positive outlook for the future. shows little signs of abating. Yet at the same mining industry still exists. This is a view time,t i has a ways to go before it joins the that equates modern-day mining to cen- Colombia’s future ranksf o its established mining nation peers. turies-old, small-scale informal mining Is the landscape perfect right now? No, Just ten years ago, Colombia wasn’t on methods that carried poor working con- butt i will likely only get better. Aggressive the s map a a mining destination. The ditions, safety records and environmental reformso t the mining industry will country was riddled with guerrilla war- practices. However, formal mining using encourage even greater foreign invest- fare and narcotics trafficking, which industry best practices is currently a far mentn i the years to come. Of course, this scared away large-scale foreign invest- cry from these methods as technology has hingesn o Colombia’s ability to build ment. Today, you hear daily chatter about Colombia and how it’s en route to becom- Colombia has become a household name in the sector. Its ingn a international mining powerhouse. This increased thirst for information on growth potential and untapped sources of gold and other Colombia was evident in recent events PwC resources have made it a red-hot mining destination... heldn i Toronto and Vancouver to packed “ roomsf o mining executives on both sides helped improve working conditions and infrastructure to meet rising demand—an of the country eager to hear about lessoned the environmental impact of issue termed “Colombia’s Achilles Heel” Colombia’s developing mining industry. mining. Greater collaboration with local by our colleagues at Eurasia Group at our The message from these events was clear: groups and more awareness is needed to event. However, the Santos a”dministra- Colombia can become a world-class min- help make this distinction. tion’s o plans t invest $55 billion in infra- ing country, but much progress needs to structure over the next 10 years and happen before it achieves this status. Colombia’s revolutionary reforms planned industry reforms should hope- Former President Alvaro Uribe (2002- fully translate into rapid change. Perception vs. reality 2010) unlocked the door to modern min- Inn a impressively short amount of Colombia paints two different pictures in ingn i Colombia, and the current President time, Colombia has moved from a coun- the f minds o mining execs. For some, an Juan Manuel Santos has made it clear that try with mining potential to a recognized old school view of Colombia still prevails the s country i open to growing the mining mining destination with staying power. as a high-risk area for foreign investment. industry for the long-term. The future looks bright for Colombia and But, Colombia is slowly but surely shed- At our events, Antioquia’s Secretary of for global mining companies looking to ding its reputation. Over the past decade, Mines, Nicolás López Correa, detailed tap into the country’s rich territory, 80% military efforts have managed to contain major reforms the Santos administration of s which i unexplored. The question is (albeit not eliminate) the insurgent group is undertaking to help encourage growth no longer will Colombia become a mining FARC, helping make it a safer destination in the sector and make it easier for global powerhouse, but when. for miners. These ramped up efforts have companieso t mine in the country. This For o access t event presentations seen at reduced the amount of kidnappings and includes reforms to the current Mining our Mining in Colombia events, please attacksn o infrastructure that were once Codeo t encourage more legal stability, visit:www.pwc.com/ca/mining-in-colombia.

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